The increased demand from operators for multitasking vessels has seen France’s Technip apply its experience gained from pipelay units such as the Deep Blue, Apache and Apache II to bring several such units onto the market in recent years.

But for its most recently built pipelay giant, Deep Energy, it has recognized another need—the need for speed. Completed in 2013, the vessel, despite being one of the largest pipelay vessels ever built, can sail at a speed of up to 19.5 knots, making it the fastest of its kind. This is not only good for field development and installation schedules but also for Technip’s business as it enables fast transition between work locations and therefore greater vessel availability.

Atlantic Basin operations
With the capacity to install rigid pipe, flexible pipe and umbilicals from shallow waters out to water depths of up to 3,000 m (9,843 ft) via the reel-lay method, this vessel was built to work on subsea projects, mainly in the North Sea, Atlantic Basin and intercontinental locations.

Having carried out work on projects so far for clients including Enbridge, Murphy and Anadarko in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and for Marathon offshore Norway, it has proven its ability to successfully work in varying water depths. On Anadarko’s Lucius in the GoM, it worked in up to 2,260 m (7,500 ft) of water, while toward the other end of the scale it carried out activities on Marathon’s Bøyla at a depth of 120 m (400 ft).

Some of its most recent contract awards will see it carry out pipeline installation for Total E&P on the Edradour and Glenlivet subsea developments West of Shetland offshore the U.K. in about 300 m (984 ft) of water during the summer seasons of 2016 and 2017. It also will lay 50 km (31 miles) of rigid pipe for EnQuest on its Kraken project in the U.K. North Sea, while further afield it also has work lined up in due course for Shell offshore Australia on its world-class Prelude floating LNG project.

The Class 3 dynamically positioned vessel was primarily designed to handle subsea installation of reeled rigid pipe of up to 18 in. in diameter via a tiltable tower at the stern with a range of laying angles between 90 and 30 degrees, which gives it its wide range of water depth pipelay capabilities.

The vessel has a normal operating dynamic top tension of 450 tons and is equipped with a highly efficient pipeline end termination handling system. But her multitasking skills mean that the Deep Energy is also capable of installing flexible products, umbilicals, steel tube umbilicals and a variety of mid-line and end structures, carrying out these duties during her first tour of duty in the GoM in 2013 to 2014.

Vessel Facts:

Sector: Pipelay and subsea construction

Owner: Technip

Hull Built: STX Dalian Shipbuilding, China

Outfitting: Westcon Yard, Florø, Norway

Size (length, breadth): 194.5 m (638 ft), 31 m (102 ft)

Deadweight: 11,000 tons

Gross Tonnage: 25,378 tons

Transit Speed: 19.5 knots

Positioning: DP3

Min/Max Pipelay Operating Depth: 16 m (52 ft)/3,000 m (9,843 ft)

Reel Weight Capacity: 2 x Reels (2,800 Te max)

Operating Arena: North Atlantic

Classification: DNV+1A1, Clean Design, ICE-C

Accommodation: 140 persons

Present Location: Angola, West Africa

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